When each of my first two babies (not babies anymore, but my babies still) was new, in those sleepless, bleary-eyed first months I would lay awake at night, listening to my husband snore, and eyeing the baby monitor, suspicious of it’s silence. Exhausted, barely managing to breastfeed, self-feed, and generally function as a human, I would lay awake and pray the same prayer every night, over and over and over.
Please, Lord, make me the wife and mother they need.
I prayed this because I was desperately aware that I was falling short of perfect, and I didn’t have any energy left to try harder. My husband was eating gas station burritos on the way to work, laundry was piled up, and I couldn’t remember my last shower. I don’t think Pinterest even existed yet, but I still managed to compare myself to some Magical Mystery Mom who was doing it better than I was.
I wasn’t any better at sleeping by the time our third baby was born, (spoiler alert, I still don’t sleep well, even though she finally does) so there I lay one night, still begging the Lord for the same old thing.
Please, Lord, make me the wife and mother they need.
And then it happened. Something that had never happened to me before.
God answered my prayer, not by giving me a sign, or closing a door, or by a gentle nudge, but in actual words.
I already did.
Whoa!
As soon as I heard those words in my heart, I quit worrying about not being enough for them. I know there are still many areas where I can improve not just as a wife and mother, but as a person. After all, none of us is perfect. But each of us is chosen.
Now I’m confident I have always been the woman He chose to be my husband’s wife, and these are children He chose for us.
Pinterest Mom’s family needs her.
Healthy-Crunchy Mom’s family needs her.
My family needs ME.
Your family needs YOU!
If you’re worried about not making the grade I urge you to search your heart and spend some time in prayer. There certainly are times when each of us is dropping the ball, or need to humble ourselves and ask for help, but at the root of it, I think you’ll find you are already the mom your family needs. God doesn’t make mistakes.